Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 11/30/2012 at 4:50 PM News

The Popdust Files: rihanna, stay, upcoming singles

Standard business practice, whether in ’80s hair metal or in ’00s hip-hop—your first single is your party-starting jam, and your second is your big ballad. OK, so maybe “Diamonds” isn’t exactly a party-starter, but “Stay,” recently announced as the second single off Unapologetic, is certainly a big ballad—one of the biggest and best of Rihnana’s career, even. The song will be released on January 7th—or will “impact,” rather, since it doesn’t really mean anything to release a song as single anymore.

We’re in favor of this single choice for Rihanna, obviously. Still kinda wish she’d have left the song as a solo performance and not invited whoever the dude with all the K’s in his name as a duet partner, but it’s a stunner anyway, and could very easily turn into Rihanna’s “Someone Like You.” Plus, when has there ever been a bad single released called “Stay”? Sugarland? (Nope.) U2? (Nope.) Lisa Loeb? (Nope, nope, one million times nope.) A proud lineage for sure.